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Transgender 1st-grader banned from using girls' restroom

Coy Mathis, a 6-year-old transgender girl from Aurora, Colo., has won her case. Her family and advocates claimed she was discriminated against when she wasn't allowed to use the female restroom at her school.

Coy's family was locked in a legal battle with the school district in Fountain, a town 82 miles south of Denver, over whether Coy, should have to use the gender neutral bathroom in the teachers' lounge or another in the nurse's office, as school officials suggested. Her parents say using anything other than the girls' bathroom could stigmatize her, and open her up to bullying.

Credit: Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund

Siblings Dakota, Max and Coy Mathis.

Coy has been diagnosed with Gender Identity Disorder. Biologically, Coy, 6, is a boy, but to her parents, three sisters and brother, other family members and the world, Coy is a transgender girl.

Credit: Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund

Max, Coy and Dakota Mathis.

At 5 months, Coy took a pink blanket meant for her sister Lily. Later, she showed little interest in toy cars and boy clothes with pictures of sports, monsters and dinosaurs on them. She refused to leave the house if she had to wear boy clothes.

Credit: Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund

Coy Mathis became depressed and withdrawn, telling her parents that she wanted to get "fixed" by a doctor.

Her father Jeremy Mathis, an ex-Marine, told AP that Coy liked to wear pink bows and dress up in girls clothes. He wasn't bothered until she refused to leave the house if she had to wear boy clothes.

Credit: Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund

Coy Mathis' family said she became depressed and withdrawn, telling her parents that she wanted to get "fixed" by a doctor.

Credit: Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund

Coy Mathis' family learned she had gender identity disorder, a condition in which someone identifies as the opposite gender. The Mathises said they decided to help Coy live as a girl and she came out of her shell.

Credit: Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund

In this, Feb. 25, 2013, photo, Coy Mathis sits with a book at her home in Fountain, Colo.

Credit: AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

Coy Mathis gets a hug from her mother Kathryn, who holds Coy's sister Auri, 2, at their home in Fountain, Colo., Feb. 25, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

Coy Mathis plays with a smart phone as her mother, Kathryn, watches, at their home in Fountain, Colo., Feb. 25, 2013.

Credit: AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

In this Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, photo, Coy Mathis is pushed on a sled by her father, Jeremy, in the back yard of their home in Fountain, Colo.

Credit: AP Photo/Brennan Linsley

In this Monday, Feb. 25, 2013, photo, Coy Mathis sits on a couch at her home in Fountain, Colo.